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Gardeners' Notes:

I have had this plant since 1991 and Ive divided and shared it many times. It gets so big (about 3 feet across) and in bloom it is just awesome to behold! When I accidentally break a branch, I always root it and start new plants in case something should happen to the "Mother". It's a beautiful pale pink with darker pink deep inside the bloom. It has the type stems with points, not the smooth-side ones. I have it on a shaded SW porch here now but kept it inside for many years too. Over the years Ive corrected the soil from plain potting soil to a better and better draining mixture. Otherwise, its easy to over water and rot the roots. Extremely carefree plant that gives more than it gets!

I've had my Thanksgiving cactus for approx. 15 years. It's huge, 2 ft.x18 in. Yes, 2 FEET wide! I've split it twice over the years as it was too heavy to lift. When I lived on Long Island, NY I left it outside from May to frost. Ignored it, fertilized with Miracle Grow, and watered when I remembered. Here in SC, I keep it outside on a screened in porch, part shade/part sun. I bring it in when we have very cold nights, which isn't often. Soil is 1/3 vermiculite,1/3 reg.potting soil, 1/3 coarse sand. At Thanksgiving, the plant is an absolute mass of pink! People are astounded of the beauty and size. This is a gem of a plant, and I recommend it highly to folks who don't seem to have a "green thumb" as it's a "no brainer".

Mine stays on my front porch. It gets filtered sun throughout the day. The winter temps before blooming in Mid to late December are usually in the 50's or rarely in the 40's. It's December 4th, and I have blooms forming on the tips now.

This plant gets ignored. A lot. It's rootbound right now. I water it whenever I think about it, but usually will only remember to in Spring (when I'm gardening out front anyway) or when blooms start to form. That's also the only time I fertilize it. I'll be repotting with Cactus soil this spring.

Despite my ignoring it, or maybe because I can.. I LOVE this plant. It does everything on it's on. I don't have to put it in the closet to force a bloom, and the blooms are marvelous. A pale pink, almost peach color, getting lighter towards the tip. Once it blooms I'll get some pictures of it.

Most of the pictures for the Christmas Cactus are actually Thanksgiving Cactus. The leaves on the Christmas Cactus are smooth, while the leaves on the Thanksgiving Cactus have points. I prefer the Thanksgiving Cactus. (:

Mine grows in a pot in the greenhouse, rootbound, getting dried out sometimes, bright light, temps over 90 quite often and it still blooms. It had blooms on it about 2 months ago but puts on it's main show around the holidays. It's a tough plant in some ways.